Man mistaken for Roy Hodgson on Twitter finds an ally in UFC star Jon Jones’ namesake
Fighter's namesake offers words of support to the man mistaken for England manager on Twitter
THE man who found his Twitter timeline filled with abuse following England's 1-1 draw against Russia now has an ally.
Mike Woycheck unwittingly found himself the victim of a tirade of social media stick when disgruntled fans - including, amusingly, Sky News political editor Faisal Islam - tweeted their displeasure to his account username - the playful nickname given to England manager Roy Hodgson.
But the Pittsburgh operations manager has been sent a message of support from a fellow Twitter user who has experienced similar messages in his own mentions column.
Brooklyn-based art outsourcer Jon Jones has been a regular recipient of Twitter hate messages ever since his namesake, UFC interim light-heavyweight champion Jon 'Bones' Jones, started hitting the headlines.
His Twitter account was mistaken from the UFC star's handle of , as the New Yorker received a torrent of abuse.
And when SunSport contacted Jones with news of Woycheck's similar story, he gave us the following message to pass on to his fellow victim of mistaken identity.
"Never give up the name, and never surrender!" he said.
"After surviving the deafening bleating of idiot sports fans on Twitter, you'll realize how much better literally anything else in life is.
"I may have stepped in a puddle, but at least I'm not an idiot that shouts opinions toward a common name on Twitter and expects it to route correctly.
"That being said, if I was given a choice of harassers between a horde of stupid men that enjoy watching men punch each other for sport, and excitable football fans, I'd pick the former without hesitation."
Jones' story is a remarkable one. After joining Twitter in 2007 he started to receive the occasional message intended for a young up-and-coming mixed martial artist of the same name.
"It was initially a mix of people wishing me luck or hoping I'm beaten badly," he explained.
Suddenly my phone is vibrating off the table and thousands of terrible spellers wanted me bloodied and dead
Jon Jones on receiving abuse intended for his UFC fighter namesake
"I'd usually reply with some variation on "What? Who wants to hurt me?! I'm so sorry, what have I done?" and we'd have a laugh and move on.
"Then it changed suddenly and dramatically.
"In August 2012, Jon Jones backed out of a fight at UFC 151, and I started getting thousands of people tweeting me calling me terrible names, wishing beatings and death and such for me and my family, dozens of times every minute.
"Mind you, I had no context for this whatsoever. Suddenly my phone is vibrating off the table and thousands of terrible spellers wanted me bloodied and dead."
But rather than be offended and upset by the anti-social media he was receiving, Jones instead used it as a personal social experiment. And to have a bit of fun while he was at it.
"Once I realized what was happening, I saw a unique opportunity to be very silly, so I took a couple days off work, sat down at my computer, and replied to virtually every tweet I received with the goofiest responses I could think of," he explained.
"If they think they're tweeting a man who punches people into unconsciousness for a living, how jarring would it be to find instead a pudgy, frightened little white geek that seemingly has no idea what's happening to him?
Each time he does something terrible, my Twitter timeline blows up with stupid people that think I'm him
@JonJones on getting messages for @JonnyBones
"Watching people react to that is endlessly funny to me, especially since I don't follow UFC at all. Technically, it follows me."
Having the same name as the UFC's number-one pound-for-pound fighter has seen his mentions list become a constant source of entertainment for Jones, who has gained new followers among fight fans and the MMA media for his good-natured response to the unexpected attention.
And with Jones the fighter hitting the headlines for use of controlled substances and for a hit-and-run incident that almost landed him in jail, Jones' list of misdirected Twitter messages continues to grow.
"Each time he does something terrible, my Twitter timeline blows up with stupid people that think I'm him," he said.
"And people re-follow me just to watch me respond to the horde of morons that don't check who they're tweeting first. So, I have my fun.
"This is a hobby that only I can have, and something that could really only happen through a bizarre quirk of 21st century technology.
"To date, I've gotten something ridiculous like 80,000 tweets about this over the years.
"At this point, I'm actually followed by several professional fighters, including Bones' teammates, and dozens of journalists. I've even made new friends out of this.
"But to date, I've still never spoken to him. He blocked me on Twitter a couple years ago, and I have no idea why. That's the only time he's acknowledged my existence."
And when asked what he would do if he ever found himself face to face with his fighting namesake, Jones said has it all planned out.
"My immediate response would be to pretend I didn't know who he was!" he joked.
"Then I'd challenge him to play a video game with me. Possibly the UFC game with him on the cover (I call Bones!), or Mortal Kombat, or the latest Call of Duty.
"I think doing a completely normal geeky thing with him would be hilarious.
"Oh, I wonder if he's played Cards Against Humanity! A card game would be fun."
